France celebrates as freed hostage Betancourt is re-united with her children

Thursday 3 July 2008 16:53 BST

The children of Ingrid Betancourt embraced their mother for the first time in six years on Thursday in a tear-drenched airport welcome, a day after the former presidential candidate was freed from rebel captivity by Colombia's government.

'Nirvana, paradise - that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment,' Betancourt told reporters as she fought back tears, her son bending over to kiss her and her daughter clinging tightly to her arm.

The two were adolescents when she was seized, and have now grown into young adults.

'They are so different and so similar at the same time,' she said.

Family joy: French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt with her children Melanie and Lorenzo upon their arrival at Catam military airport in Bogota

France's government flew the children, Lorenzo and Melanie, to meet Betancourt, a dual citizen whose captivity became a cause celebrity in the European nation where she spent her childhood.

The office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said Betancourt herself would arrive in Paris on Friday.

Betancourt said earlier she was probably alive today thanks to France's efforts on her behalf.

'I want to tell President Sarkozy - and through him all the French people - that they were our support, our light,' Betancourt said in an interview with the Colombian television station RCN early on Thursday.

'It's time for me to thank the French, to tell them I admire them, that I feel proud to be French as well.'

Celebration: People put up a sign reading "finally free" on a giant picture of Ingrid Betancourt in Bordeaux

The military freed her in a daring helicopter rescue along with three Americans and 11 Colombian hostages and she wore a camouflage jacket hours after the rescue.

Sarkozy's chief of staff, Claude Gueant, told French TV that France 'did not take part' in the operation and in fact only learned of it 15 minutes before the first Colombian press reports.

Betancourt, who was kidnapped six years ago while campaigning for the presidency, called for the rebels to release more captives and said she hopes to help work toward reconciliation in Colombia.

She said it is too soon to say if she will get involved in Colombian politics again, and wants to discuss her plans with her family first.

'At the end of my life, I'd like them to bury me in France,' Betancourt said. 'I think I owe that to them. ... If I'm alive today, it's because of them.'

Her plight drew an outpouring of support in Europe, with crowds praying in vigils and holding photos of her in the streets during her years of captivity.

Betancourt said the rebels sometimes did not want to give her medicine when she was sick, but that her captors eased their treatment and "held back because France was behind" her.

She expressed particular gratitude to former President Jacques Chirac. 'When we felt we were abandoned, all of a sudden there was that hand of President Chirac, to whom I want to say ... that he protected us, he protected my family.'

Out at last: Workers remove a giant picture of freed French-colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt in front of the Paris city hall